期刊
NATURE
卷 450, 期 7166, 页码 74-76出版社
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nature06319
关键词
-
资金
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [PP/D000920/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- STFC [PP/D000920/1] Funding Source: UKRI
It is now widely accepted that most galaxies undergo an active phase, during which a central super-massive black hole generates vast radiant luminosities through the gravitational accretion of gas(1,2). Winds launched from a rotating accretion disk surrounding the black hole are thought to play a critical role, allowing the disk to shed angular momentum that would otherwise inhibit accretion(3,4). Such winds are capable of depositing large amounts of mechanical energy in the host galaxy and its environs, profoundly affecting its formation and evolution(5-7), and perhaps regulating the formation of large-scale cosmological structures in the early Universe(8,9). Although there are good theoretical grounds for believing that outflows from active galactic nuclei originate as disk winds(10), observational verification has proven elusive. Here we show that structures observed in polarized light across the broad Ha emission line in the quasar PG 17001518 originate close to the accretion disk in an electron scattering wind. The wind has large rotational motions (similar to 4,000 km s(-1)), providing direct observational evidence that outflows from active galactic nuclei are launched from the disks. Moreover, the wind rises nearly vertically from the disk, favouring launch mechanisms that impart an initial acceleration perpendicular to the disk plane.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据